


Curly Brow and Marimo: High School Edition

by LadyLiberal



Series: Curly Brow and Marimo [2]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Alternate Universe - High School, F/M, Female Vinsmoke Sanji
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-10
Updated: 2019-07-17
Packaged: 2020-06-25 19:20:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,622
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19752178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyLiberal/pseuds/LadyLiberal
Summary: What if Zoro and Sanji met in high school instead of at the engagement party?Story takes place ten years earlier, in same universe, as my story, "Curly Brow and Marimo."





	1. First Day of School

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own One Piece or its characters, I only own this story.

It was Sanji’s first day of high school. A nerve-wracking experience for anyone, but for Sanji it felt even more so because it was also her first day at a new school.

She had just moved to town a couple weeks earlier and had yet to meet anyone her own age. Since she had been bullied at her old school, Sanji was worried it would be the same thing here. It wasn’t her fault she had weird eyebrows, although she did choose to wear the big dorky glasses—but that was to try and distract or hide her eyebrows—her eyesight was actually fine. Her goal was to blend-in with everyone else and ideally, not be noticed.

Sanji left the two-bedroom apartment that she and Zeff just moved into and began her walk to school. She didn’t mind the uniform she had to wear, it was very similar to what she wore every day: a navy suit jacket over a white button-up shirt and maroon tie, and navy pleated skirt with white tights and black dress shoes. Her blonde hair was up in a bun and her bangs covered the left side of her face.

The walk was short and Sanji was easily able to find her first classroom, which she was grateful for. As she sat in her first class of the day waiting for the bell to ring, Sanji kept her head down and listened to music with her earbuds. So far no one had tried talking to her, which was honestly a relief, because Sanji just wanted to be left alone.

~oOo~

Now that she was in high school, Nami decided to walk there with Zoro. She knew all too well about his terrible sense of direction, and his place was on the way.

“Come on, Zoro—I’m telling you it’s this way!”

He shot her a glare, but after years of being friends, she knew not to take it seriously. Zoro was obviously tired, and Nami suspected he’d end up sleeping during his classes, but she was excited.

It was the first day of high school, she was looking forward to becoming popular, maybe even find a cute girl to date. She didn’t know what would happen, but she was eager to begin the next four years of her life.

“What’re you smiling so weird for?” Zoro yawned.

Nami huffed in annoyance, “It’s not weird! I’m excited, can you blame me?”

He rolled his eyes, “Why would you be excited to go to school?”

“Because unlike you, I want to learn things and get into college.” Nami glared at him, then lightened the mood with a smile, “Besides, I heard from Usopp that there is a new kid in our class.”

“So what if there’s a new kid?” He wasn’t interested in such things and said, “They probably want to be left alone but people like you and Luffy try to learn everything about them with no consideration for their feelings.”

“Hey! That’s not true!” Nami pouted, offended, “Besides, Luffy isn’t going to be there—he’s still stuck in middle school.”

“Yeah, but you will be there, and that’s worse.”

She slammed her fist down right on the top of Zoro’s head, “You idiot! What’s that supposed to mean?”

He rubbed the top of his head and groaned, “Luffy doesn’t go around hitting people like that for one.”

Nami glared at him, “Yeah, instead he clings onto them like a monkey.”

Zoro smirked, “Right, he does do that.”

“Well,” Nami proudly said, “Whoever this new kid is, I bet they would be thrilled if I decide to talk to them!”

“Ha—I doubt it.”

“Why do you have to be such a jerk to me, Zoro?!”

“Because no one else will.”

Nami crossed her arms and stuck her nose in the air, “Hmpfh!”

Zoro chuckled, “I do this to keep you humble.”

She scoffed, “Yeah, well maybe someone should give you a taste of your own medicine.”

“Isn’t that what you do already? Constantly nag me?”

“Someone has to…”

They arrived at the school and even though Zoro insisted he could find his way to his class, Nami walked him there because it happened to be right next to her own.

When she walked into her classroom, she glanced around and smiled at the familiar faces of her classmates. There was one girl she didn’t recognize, and immediately Nami new she had found the new kid. Wanting to shove it in Zoro’s face and become her friend, Nami took the empty seat beside her.

The girl was resting her elbow on the desk and her forehead against her fist. Nami saw she had earbuds in and decided to tap her shoulder to get her attention.

As soon as she did, the girl jumped in her seat and turned to look at Nami. She noticed that half her face was covered by her bangs, but her visible eye was a stunning shade of blue; it was too bad she wore those geeky glasses, Nami thought she would look way prettier without them.

Nami gestured for her to remove her earbuds and smiled when she did, “Hi, I’m Nami.”

“Uh… Hi?” She stared at Nami with a confused look on her face.

“What’s your name?” She asked, still smiling.

“Sanji.”

“I heard there was a new kid, but I didn’t think you’d be so pretty!”

The girl, Sanji’s eye widened, “Are you serious?”

Nami nodded her head, “Oh, totally! Your eyes are _so_ blue—it’s too bad you gotta wear those big glasses.”

Sanji looked down at her hands and blushed, “I don’t really need them—I just wear them to hide my eyebrows…”

“What’s wrong with your eyebrows?”

She pointed to the swirl on the end of her visible brow, “These stupid swirls—all the kids at my old school bullied me.”

Nami felt a little bad, this girl had looked like she didn’t want to be bothered, just like Zoro had said, but she didn’t listen and decided to pry. But now she knew why she was acting so closed off—she’s used to being bullied. Ultimately, Nami was happy she didn’t listen to Zoro, because Sanji seemed like she needed a friend and Nami didn’t see why it couldn’t be her.

“I’m sorry that you were bullied at your old school, Sanji.” Nami gave her a kind smile and reassured her, “No one will get away with doing that to you here, I promise.”

~oOo~

By the time lunch rolled around, Zoro had already been yelled at for sleeping in class twice. He didn’t care though, school was stupid, all Zoro needed to do was pass his classes so he could still be in kendo.

He followed the smell of food to find his way to the cafeteria, and after getting his tray of food, he searched for where his friends were sitting.

Zoro spotted Ace, already finished eating his food and pouting at a circular table in the corner with Sabo and Robin. He made his way over to the table and took the seat directly across from Ace, so he was as far away from him as possible, hoping it would deter him from reaching out for any of his food.

Unfortunately, it didn’t stop him from asking, “Zoro! Hey buddy, would ya give me some of your lunch? I’m starving over here.”

“No, I won’t give you any of my food, Ace. Believe it or not, but I also am hungry.”

That’s when Usopp came over to the table and was asked the same thing, “Hey, Usopp! Can I have your food?”

“No! God, I was really looking forward to not eating lunch with Luffy this year. I should’ve known you’d be just as bad!”

Ace pouted for a few seconds, then began to perk up as he looked past Zoro’s head behind him, “Hey! Who’s the blondie?”

“Huh?” Zoro turned around to see who Ace was talking about and spotted Nami dragging along who he assumed to be the new kid they were talking about earlier through the lunch line.

Usopp filled them in, “That’s Sanji—she’s the new kid. Nami has the same schedule as her.”

Zoro turned back around and shook his head; the poor girl was probably too intimidated by Nami’s personality to tell her to leave her alone.

“She’s quite pretty,” Robin had her signature, knowing smile across her smug face, “I’m sure Nami noticed that, too.”

“She kinda looks like Sabo,” Ace said.

“Are you saying I look like a girl?” Sabo quipped back.

Ace raised his hands in the air in surrender, “No, it’s the hair.”

Sabo rolled his eyes, “Just because we both have the same color hair, doesn’t mean we look alike.”

“Yeah, Sanji is way prettier than Sabo is!” Usopp spoke up to Ace, then turned to Sabo, “No offence!”

Zoro silently ate his food while the four of them talked, not wanting to participate in gossip about the new kid. He could care less about such things, as far as he was concerned, he was perfectly content with the friends he had and didn’t feel like making any new ones. Why Nami felt the need to befriend some random new kid was beyond him.

“Shhh, be quiet, they are coming!” Ace said a little too loudly to be considered inconspicuous.

“Shut up, Ace!” Sabo kicked him under the table.

“Oww!” Ace glared at his brother.

“Hey guys and Robin, this is my new friend, Sanji.” Nami showed up at the table with the blonde girl in tow, “Sanji, this is Usopp, Ace, Sabo, Robin, and Zoro.”

Nami took the empty seat next to Usopp and Sanji sat next to Zoro, “Uh, hi.”

Zoro turned to acknowledge her, but when he saw her up close, he understood why they were all talking about how pretty she was. Her face was half-covered by her blonde hair, but her eye was striking shade of blue and stood out across her pale complexion. He never thought girls were pretty, but the longer he looked at Sanji, the more certain he became that she was quickly becoming the exception.

He didn’t realize that he had been staring at her until Sanji’s cheeks turned pink and she quickly looked down at her tray of food. On his right, he could hear Robin giggling—probably at his expense.

“Don’t mind Zoro, he’s just anti-social,” Nami spouted off her nonsense.

“I talk to you guys, don’t I?” Zoro gritted his teeth, not in the mood for one of her lectures.

“Zoro, we all know you don’t talk to anyone else beside people in kendo,” leave it up to Ace to point that out.

“So, what? Can we _not_ talk about me?” He thought they would be throwing questions at the new girl and torturing _her,_ not him.

“Where are you from, Sanji?” Robin was always so calm and collected.

“I lived in East Blue City before moving here. My old man just opened a restaurant in town—”

 _“The Baratie?!”_ Ace shouted and slammed his fists on the table, “Oh my god, no way! Luffy and I have been wanting to go there since it opened! It smells _soo good_ over there!”

Zoro snuck a peek at Sanji and saw she was smiling, “Yeah, our food is delicious—way better than this pathetic excuse for a meal. I’m gonna have to start bringing my own lunch if this is the norm.”

“Please bring me one too!” Ace plead, “If you don’t want to eat that, I will—but it’s only because I’m starving and need sustenance.”

Sabo quickly shut that down, “I wouldn’t advise doing that—Ace here eats more food than your average person.”

“So does Luffy,” Usopp added.

“I don’t mind,” Sanji assured them all and turned to Ace with a bright smile, “I’ll bring you some of my own food tomorrow.” As she slid her tray across the table to him she said, “I’d rather not eat this myself, so you can have it.”

“YES!” Ace yelled and everyone else groaned in irritation and disgust.

None of them wanted to witness Ace eating, but they endured it because they were nakama. The same thing goes for Luffy, they all dealt with their disgusting display because they accepted each other—flaws and all.

“Well,” Sanji sighed beside him, “At least you don’t have to waste any food with that around…”

“Yeah, and when you’ve got two of them around it becomes a competition of who can eat the most food faster.” Zoro shook his head, “It’s a nightmare, Ace and Luffy steal everyone else’s food.”

“Who’s Luffy?” She asked.

Sabo answered for everyone, “He’s mine and Ace’s little brother. He’s usually with us, but he’s in middle school.”

“It’s so quiet without him here,” Usopp pointed out.

“Oh my god, it is so nice! I love Luffy, but he’s really loud,” Nami commented.

“Try living with him,” Ace complained.

“Like you’re any better, Ace. I live with you both and you both are _very_ loud,” Sabo stated dryly.

Robin was giggling to Zoro’s right, but he didn’t care so much about that because to his left, Sanji was failing miserably at hiding her own laugher. He realized that he liked it—the sound of her laugh as well as the look of her carefree smile.

When she caught him staring at her, she stopped and told him, “Quit looking at me so weird.”

Zoro dumbly replied with a smirk, “I can’t help it.”

Immediately he regretted it, because Sanji turned to Nami with a desperate look, “Nami, please, you have to give me my glasses back.”

“You took her glasses?” He asked Nami accusingly, “Can she even see?”

Nami rolled her eyes at him, “Relax, she can see just fine.” She turned to Sanji and said, “You stand out more with those ugly nerd glasses than without them.”

Usopp spoke under his breath, “That’s a little harsh…”

“I’m just being honest, Usopp.” She gave Sanji a big smile, “Besides, you look so much prettier without them.” Then Nami turned to them all, “Don’t you guys all think Sanji is pretty?”

“Actually, we were talking about that before you two joined us for lunch,” Robin offered.

“Yeah, we all think she’s super pretty,” Ace grinned proudly.

Zoro noticed Sanji’s cheeks were red as she stared at the tabletop with a blank look in her eye. After a moment, she began to smile, and he couldn’t help but wonder what that was all about—why it even mattered what people thought about her appearance. Girls cared way too much about their looks, everyone spent way too much time worrying about meaningless things.

But the strangest thing was that Sanji didn’t seem to realize that she’s pretty. Zoro found her a lot prettier than Robin or Nami, and the two of them acted like they were supermodels or something. It didn’t make sense to him for someone as pretty as Sanji to not realize it. He thought she would be more confident, but she seemed to have very low self-esteem. He’d be lying if he said it didn’t bother him.

~oOo~

As Sanji walked to her next class with Nami, she listened to her apologize, “I’m really sorry about Zoro. He doesn’t usually stare at people, he was being weird—everyone else was as normal as they can get.”

She smiled, “I thought they were nice.”

Nami raised her eyebrow, “Even Zoro?”

“I don’t know,” she began, then continued to say, “I guess he was a bit strange—I mean his hair is green—but he wasn’t mean to me. He just made me feel…weird.”

“Weird how?” Nami asked.

Sanji shrugged, “Like when he was staring at me—it made my stomach feel funny.”

Her brown eyes widened, “Oh no… No, no, no, no, no. Sanji, this is bad—you cannot have a crush on Zoro!”

“WHAT?!” She shrieked then lowered her voice to a whisper, “I do _not_ have a crush on Zoro—I don’t even know him. Besides, even if I did have a crush on him, why would that be bad?”

“Well, I’m glad you don’t because Zoro doesn’t care about girls and I don’t want you to get your hopes up just because he looked at you for longer than five seconds.”

“I’m not getting my hopes up—I don’t like him!” Sanji sternly explained to her first friend.

“That’s my girl! Now let’s hurry up and get to class.”

~oOo~

Zoro didn’t fall asleep in class for the rest of the day. He was far too distracted to sleep, unable to stop thinking about the new girl. There was something very interesting about her, something familiar, but that simply didn’t make sense because they had never met before lunchtime today.

She was intriguing, Zoro had to admit that much—she had to be if he spent this much time thinking about her. And he couldn’t stop picturing her—not just the way she smiled and laughed, but also the way she acted when attention was brought to herself. Weren’t the pretty girls always basking in the spotlight?

Sanji wasn’t like that, at least she wasn’t when it came to her looks. Zoro noticed she seemed to enjoy talking about food and cooking. He was a little jealous that Ace was going to be brought a homemade lunch tomorrow. If he had to guess, Sanji probably wasn’t used to receiving those kinds of compliments. It really was such a shame, though, because if Zoro was being honest, Sanji was the only girl in this school that deserved them.

Ace hadn’t been completely wrong when he said she looked like Sabo—they have the same hair and eye colors—but like Usopp said, she was much prettier than Sabo. Sanji had a certain charm about her that Zoro found appealing. It was obvious that she felt self-conscious about her appearance, but Zoro couldn’t understand why. He wondered what she would act like if she had more confidence.

_That would be really attractive..._

He was pathetic. This morning he had been giving Nami shit for trying to pry into people’s lives and learn everything about them—and now he was doing it himself. Zoro felt like such a hypocrite.

When the final bell rang, signaling the end of the day, Zoro headed out of his classroom and ended up seeing Nami and Sanji walking towards him. He made eye contact with them both and couldn’t help but notice that Sanji quickly glanced away.

“Hey Zoro! Sanji’s gonna walk home with us,” Nami cheerfully announced.

He groaned, “I don’t understand why you won’t let me walk alone.”

“Because you would get lost!”

“I don’t get lost, Nami! Quit saying that—the roads just change,” he added.

Sanji started to laugh, “The roads don’t change.”

Zoro clenched his teeth and gave Sanji an irritated glance then rolled his eyes, “Whatever, I’ll walk with you, but I don’t get lost.”

He chose to ignore Nami as she whispered to Sanji, “It’s a sensitive topic.”

They left the school and Zoro followed their lead, which ended up being a good thing because he was about to go in the opposite direction they were headed.

After spending half the day thinking about Sanji, it was kind of awkward for Zoro to be walking with the two girls. Nami he was used to, he grew up with her as a close friend and knew everything about her—but Sanji was a complete mystery to Zoro. He didn’t normally care about other people outside of his nakama, and despite his thoughts and feelings about meeting new people and befriending them, Zoro wanted to crack her case and couldn’t help being drawn to her.

As they walked home together, Zoro tried his hardest not to stare. Well, maybe it was more accurate to say he tried his hardest to not get caught staring, because he couldn’t help it. She was so much more than ‘pretty’—calling her pretty was an understatement, an insult.

In the sunlight, Sanji’s hair looked like gold and her eye was as blue as the sky. She was smiling as her and Nami talked to each other and he couldn’t stop thinking that he wanted to make her smile at him like that. He wished he could talk to her without Nami around.

If he believed in a god, Zoro would’ve started thanking them because Nami’s phone began to ring. They both recognized the ringtone, the song _Soul Sister,_ but Nami had to explain, “It’s my sister, I gotta take this—probably something important.” Then she ran forward to take the call away from them.

_Thank you, Nojiko—my true savior._

He was left alone with Sanji, just like he wanted, but Zoro quickly realized he had no idea what to say to her. Unable to think of anything clever on the spot, Zoro decided to keep it simple and asked, “How was your day?”

She looked a little startled at first, but then Sanji raised her eyebrow (which he was only now noticing curled at the end) and she smiled a tiny bit, “It was a little overwhelming if I’m being honest. Nami is really nice and friendly—but I’m not used to it.”

A small smile formed on his own lips, “Yeah, I don’t know if I agree with you about Nami, but I do think her personality can be overwhelming.

“Why don’t you and Nami like each other? She asked inquisitively.

“We do like each other, we’re nakama, we just don’t always get along because of our personalities.”

She shrugged, “I don’t get it. What’s nakama?”

Zoro hummed in thought, “It’s like your family and friends, your comrades—the people that you spend your time with not because you have to but because you want to.”

“So, nakama are the important people in your life?”

“Yeah, something like that.”

There was a moment of silence between them before Sanji ended up saying, “I’ve never had friends my own age.” Zoro glanced at her, waiting for her to continue, “I spent a lot of time at the restaurant around the chefs; and no one liked me at school.”

“What’s not to like?”

Her cheeks turned pink, “They’d tease me about my eyebrows…”

“That’s stupid,” he said honestly, “I mean, it’s different, but you can’t help it.”

Sanji stopped walking for a moment and stared at him in disbelief before laughing, “I know! So stupid!” She shook her head and started walking again, “Everyone here is a lot nicer to me.”

“Hey,” he caught her gaze and told her very seriously, “If anyone gives you shit for any reason—tell them that Roronoa Zoro is gonna beat their ass for it.”

She burst out laughing, “Why would I say that?”

He shrugged, “I don’t know, maybe because it’s true?”

“What’re you, the bully police?”

Zoro scoffed, “Fuck no, I don’t give a shit about anyone but my nakama.”

Her eye widened, “Are you saying that I’m your nakama?”

In that moment, Zoro wasn’t sure what to say. He could flat out lie and say no. Or he could tell the truth and say he didn’t know what to call her. “Well, I don’t see why you can’t be,” he compromised.

It seemed like the right thing too, because Sanji ended up smiling at him, “I’d like that.”

~oOo~

Nami got off the phone with Nojiko and turned around to see Sanji and Zoro both smiling at each other. She walked back to them, “Hey, so I guess Luffy showed up at my place after school instead of going home.”

Zoro smirked at her, “Good luck with that.”

She glared back at him then turned to Sanji, “Do you have any plans? You could come over and meet Luffy if you aren’t busy.”

“Uh, sure—I mean, Zeff will probably be happy I’m spending time outside of the restaurant.” Sanji glanced over to Zoro, then back to Nami, “What about Zoro?”

Nami waved her hand, “He’s coming too.”

He groaned, “Why do you always assume I’ll go along with you?”

“Because you always do.” She rolled her eyes, “Besides, it’s not like you can find your way home by yourself.”

Sanji started laughing, “How is that even possible?”

“Don’t ask me,” Nami stated, “Ask the idiot with no sense of direction.”

Zoro glared at her, “What’s your problem?”

“Problem? I don’t have a problem,” Nami smiled sweetly, “You’re the one who is always getting lost.”

His face was bright red as he shouted, “I DON’T GET LOST!” Then he began to stomp away.

Sanji had a worried look on her face, “Where is he going?”

Nami shook her head, “He probably thinks he is going home, but that’s the wrong way.”

That was when Sanji ran over to Zoro and began to drag him back. Once they were close enough, Nami heard her saying, “Quit being so stubborn—it’ll be fun to see Luffy, won’t it?”

Zoro was mumbling under his breath, probably insults directed at herself, but Nami didn’t really care. She was curious what happened between the two while she had been on the phone. Not only was Sanji acting more comfortable around him, but Zoro was also being uncharacteristically friendly.

When they were a block away from Nami’s house, Luffy came running down the street, “NAAAMIII! ZOOOROOO!”

His body collided with Zoro’s and nearly made the larger guy fall over, “Luffy, calm down!”

“Shishishishi!” He smiled his signature grin as he laughed. “Huh?” He finally seemed to notice Sanji, “Who’re you?”

Before Nami could answer for her, Zoro did, “That’s Sanji—she’s new.”

“YAY! A NEW FRIEND!” Luffy shouted in delight, clapping his hands and jumping up and down. “Hey, Sanji? Did you already meet Sabo, Ace, Usopp, and Robin?”

“Yeah, I met them at lunch,” Sanji answered.

“No fair! You all get to eat lunch together and I’m stuck all alone!” Luffy pouted his lips.

Zoro took care of this one and patted him on his head, “You’ll get to eat with us next year. Don’t worry, I’m sure Ace and Sabo will tell you what we talk about every day if you ask.”

Luffy was once again all smiles, “Oh yeah! Shishishishi, I almost forgot about that!”

Nami rolled her eyes, “Okay, well should we go to my place or would you rather stay out here in the street?”

“Oh, Nami—could we get pizza?!” Luffy shouted excitably.

“I am not paying for you, Luffy.”

“You don’t have to, Shanks gave me money!”

She hummed in thought, “Okay, then you can pay for everyone, since it’s your idea.”

“Thanks, Nami!” He grinned at her and began sprinting towards her place.

“Wow,” Sanji spoke once he was gone, “He _is_ loud.”

“Told you,” Nami chuckled, “But you can’t _not_ like Luffy.”

~oOo~

Sanji never expected that her first day of school would end up this way: spending the evening with her new friends. She knew Zeff wouldn’t be getting back to their apartment until late, and he told her she couldn’t come to the restaurant on school nights, so she knew he didn’t care. It was much more likely that he would tell her to do it more often.

Her original plan was to get through the entire day without talking to anyone, but Nami happened and honestly, Sanji was really grateful. Nami was nice and complimented her instead of being mean and tease her about the way she looked like kids from her old school did. It was the same thing with all her friends, they all seemed happy to have her around.

It was the first time she felt like she belonged with a group of people instead of at the restaurant. Normally, Sanji was most content when she was in the kitchen cooking. She had to get used to conversing with people, but once she got the hang of it, Sanji started feeling more relaxed and was able to be herself.

They ended up ordering ten large pizzas—which was just an insane amount of pizza. Usopp got to Nami’s a few minutes before the pizzas did, but they still had two pizzas per person.

Once the pizza arrived, Luffy began to squeal, “PIZZA! PIZZA! PIZZA!”

“Just wait until we grab what we want, then you can go crazy,” Nami had paper plates and napkins set out on the dinner table next to the pizza boxes.

Sanji took a slice of each kind they ordered; there was the classic peperoni, meat-lovers, chicken alfredo, and a breakfast pizza. She saw that Nami, Usopp, and Zoro each did the same thing as her—taking one slice of each.

Once they started eating their pizza, Nami called to Luffy in the living room, “Okay you can come eat now, Luffy.”

“YES! PIZZA! FINALLY, I’M STARVING!” Luffy ran into the room and began shoving entire slices of pizza into his mouth—not bothering to take smaller bites, or chew with his mouth closed.

It was disgusting, Sanji finally turned away after watching him finish an entire meat-lovers pizza in under a minute. She ate her own pizza like a normal person, at a normal pace. Nami caught her gaze and gave her a look that said, ‘Yeah this is normal.’

When the whole pizza fiasco was over, there wasn’t a single slice or crust left and Luffy ate at least eight pizzas on his own. For such a small kid, he sure ate a lot of food, but it made more sense considering how high-energy he was.

The more time she spent around Luffy, the more she understood what Nami meant earlier, how you can’t _not_ like him. He was enthusiastic and friendly, very charismatic and overall a lot of fun to be around.

She liked being around all of them. Usopp kept telling ridiculous stories about his time as a pirate captain. Everyone seemed to go along with it, Sanji suspected it had to do with the fact it distracted Luffy, plus Usopp was a good storyteller. Even though everything was exaggerated, Sanji found it entertaining and so did Nami and Zoro.

There was one thing that kept bothering her though—Zoro was constantly staring at her and she had no idea why. Every single time she glanced in his direction, he was watching her. She expected him to look away after she’d catch him, but every time she did he would smile and keep staring at her.

At one point, she had gone to the bathroom to see if she had something on her face. Nami ended up coming to find her after she was gone for a few minutes, “Hey, is everything alright?”

Sanji turned away from the mirror to ask Nami, “Is there something wrong with my face?”

Nami’s own face scrunched up in confusion, “What are you talking about? Your face is fine.”

“Zoro won’t stop staring at me and I don’t know why.”

“What’d you two talk about earlier—when Nojiko called me on our walk?”

“Oh,” Sanji smiled, “He told me about nakama and said I was his nakama.”

Nami looked surprised, “Really?”

She nodded her head, “Yeah, he was really nice—he also told me that if anyone picks on me I should tell them their going to get their ass beat by him.”

Her eyes widened even further, “No way! Zoro said that?!”

Sanji shushed her, “Not so loud! But yeah, he did—is that weird?”

Nami blinked quickly and stuttered, “W-well it’s not normal! Zoro doesn’t like people—he doesn’t usually warm up to people so quickly…” Her voice trailed off and she seemed to be mulling something over in her head. Nami clapped her hands on Sanji’s cheeks, “What if Zoro has a crush on you?”

Now it was Sanji’s turn to pop her eyes from their sockets, “You can’t be serious.”

The orange-haired girl grinned mischievously, “Oh, but I am serious—I’ve never seen Zoro pay such close attention to anyone before. Plus, he told you he’d beat up anyone who picks on you—he wouldn’t do that if he didn’t like you.”

“Oh, come on, Nami! That’s ridiculous, why would he like me?”

Nami shook her head, “You should give yourself more credit, Sanji. You’re super pretty and an awesome person, what’s not to like?”

Sanji stared at her blankly and shrugged, “I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything, it’s a rhetorical question.” Nami smiled, “The point is you are very likeable.”

“I’m not used to people liking me.”

“Well, I think I can speak for everyone when I say we all like you and are happy to have you around.”

“Thanks, Nami.”

“No problem, you’re one of us now—Zoro even said so,” Nami wiggled her eyebrows.

Sanji rolled her eyes, “Stop it, I’m sure he’s just being nice.”

“Yeah, he is,” Nami put her hands on Sanji’s shoulders before stressing, “Zoro doesn’t do ‘nice.’”

“He seems nice to me,” she shrugged.

Nami sighed, “That’s what I’m saying…”

~oOo~

It was dark outside by the time they left Nami’s place. Usopp and Luffy walked home together since they lived near each other. That left Zoro to walk with Sanji—not that he was complaining.

Zoro normally would complain about being forced to walk home with someone, but he was pretty excited to be alone with her again.

For the first couple blocks, neither of them spoke to each other. Zoro was trying to think of something to say when Sanji broke the silence, “Nami said you and I live in the same building.”

“We do?”

She nodded her head, but wouldn’t meet his gaze, “That’s what she said.”

He studied her face, the only light coming from the streetlamps along their way; Zoro could tell she wasn’t as relaxed as she had been earlier and asked, “Is something wrong?”

Sanji glanced at him nervously, “Not really.”

“Are you sure?”

She stopped walking and frowned, “I don’t know.”

Zoro paused mid-step and sighed, “Look, you don’t have to talk about it, but…” He caught her gaze and gently smiled, “I’ll listen.”

He wasn’t sure how long they stood there looking at each other before Sanji asked, “D-do you like me?”

The question surprised him, but he answered, “Obviously—did you think I didn’t?”

She pursed her lips and scowled, “No—do you have a crush on me?”

“Oh! Uh, I don’t—I don’t know…” It made sense why she didn’t say anything right away now.

Sanji began to nibble on her lower lip, “Nami said you aren’t usually nice…but you are to me—so, why?”

The look in her eye was so desperate, Zoro couldn’t let her down and answered truthfully, “I don’t like most people and choose not to talk to them. I think it’s stupid to care about what other people think, so I don’t care if most people like me.” He took a deep breath before sighing, “But I like you—I don’t really know much about you, but I like everything so far. Does that mean I have a crush on you? I don’t know—I’ve never had a crush on someone before.”

“Why are you always staring at me?”

Zoro blurted out, “Because I’ve never seen someone as beautiful as you are.”

Her eye widened as she squeaked, “B-beautiful?”

He smiled sheepishly, “More than that.”

Sanji blinked a couple times, “Umm, I don’t know what to say.”

“Don’t need to say anything,” he shrugged and began walking again.

“Zoro,” she called to him and he turned around, “Our building is this way,” she pointed in a direction that was not where he was headed.

He felt himself blush and quickly turned in the direction she was pointing, “I knew that.”

Sanji burst out laughing, he wasn’t sure if it was a good thing for her to be laughing at him, but he liked her laugh, so he didn’t completely mind.

A few minutes later, they arrived at their apartment building. Zoro had been thinking about Sanji’s question—if he had a crush on her—and decided that maybe he did.

He followed her through the entrance to the elevator and they both pressed the button for the fifth floor. Zoro raised his eyebrow, “Seriously?”

Her cheeks were pink as she nodded her head, “Weird, huh?”

“I’ll say…”

“So, would you want to walk to school together?” She asked nervously.

“Yeah, sure—Nami and I already walk together, she met me outside this morning,” he glanced at Sanji and smirked, “Between us, I’d rather walk with you, but knowing Nami, she’ll be waiting there tomorrow.”

The elevator door opened, and they stepped out, “Oh…well, I could meet you at your place, or the elevator—”

He pointed to the apartment door right by the elevator, “This is me.”

“That’s convenient,” she acknowledged.

Zoro smiled, “Yeah, I guess. So,” he cleared his throat, scratched the back of his head, and nervously asked, “Do you have a cell phone?”

“Uh, yeah…?”

“I’ll give you my number, so you can text me.”

Sanji delicately raised her curly eyebrow, “Okay,” she pulled her phone from her bag and gave it to him, so he could add his contact information.

Zoro triple checked that he typed his number in correctly before he handed her phone back with a smile, “Here.”

She took her phone back and glanced at the screen before putting it in her bag. Sanji stood there, unmoving, as if she was waiting for him to say something else.

“You can text or call whenever—if I don’t answer it’s because I’m sleeping—or I think it’s someone else.”

She hummed in acknowledgement, then asked, “Are you sure you don’t have a crush on me?”

He stared back into her eye and boldly replied, “No, not at all.”

Sanji’s cheeks turned pink and she opened her mouth as if to say something, then closed it and turned around to walk down the hallway, calling over her shoulder, “I’ll text you.”

~oOo~

After taking a nice, hot shower, Sanji put on her pajamas and curled up in her bed with her cell phone, staring at Zoro’s contact.

She told him she’d text him, just not when—but Zoro made it sound like she should do it tonight. It was stupid, she got Nami’s number earlier today, so why should it be any different getting Zoro’s? Sanji felt like she was overthinking it, but she couldn’t help it—especially after he said he might have a crush on her.

Sanji didn’t know how to deal with that. She barely knew how to deal with having people to call friends; knowing that one of them might have a crush on her made everything so complicated.

Calming herself with a deep breath, Sanji typed out a message, **‘Hey, it’s me’** then hit send, not thinking about the fact she wasn’t really saying who she was.

There was a moment of panic as she realized her mistake and watched the three dots appear before his reply, **‘Sanji?’**

She couldn’t help but smile and send back, **‘The one and only’**

He sent a smiley face emoji then the words, **‘What’s up?’**

**‘I took a shower, now I’m in bed’**

**‘You shower at night?’**

**‘Not always, but I did tonight’**

**‘Are you not a morning person?’**

**‘No, I like the morning just fine. I just want to have enough time to make breakfast and a lunch to pack for school.’**

**‘You’re definitely not gonna want to forget some for Ace, trust me.”**

**‘I could never forget! I’m excited to share my cooking with him!’**

**‘Only with Ace? :( ’**

**‘LOL are you jealous?’**

**‘…maybe…’**

**‘You know, if you want me to bring some for you, all you need to do is ask.’**

**‘I don’t want to sound like Luffy, but… Please bring me food.’**

**‘Yeah, okay :) ’**

**‘:) Thanks’**

**‘Anytime :) ’**

**‘I’m gonna hold you to that ;) ’**

**‘I’m sure you will ;) ’**

**‘It’s almost midnight’**

**‘Yeah, I don’t feel very tired’**

**‘Neither do I’**

**‘Hey, Zoro?’**

**‘Yeah?’**

**‘Thanks for being so nice to me’**

At first, Sanji was worried she said the wrong thing because the three dots kept appearing and disappearing like he didn’t know what to say. She never did find out what he said because she ended up falling asleep.


	2. Second Day of School

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own One Piece or its characters, I only own this story.

When Sanji woke up the next morning, the first thing she did was check her phone. She couldn’t help but smile when she read the message Zoro had sent to her after she fell asleep.

**‘Don’t forget what I said, if anyone’s mean to you I’ll take care of them.’**

She felt a little bad for falling asleep, and decided to send him a message, **‘Hey! Sorry, I fell asleep, but I won’t forget :)’**

As Sanji got ready for her day, she sang to herself some of her favorite songs. She couldn’t help the good mood she was in, she didn’t want to. Sanji couldn’t even remember the last time she felt this excited to go to school. Even just yesterday she had been dreading it, but after making friends with Nami she ended up with more friends than she’s ever had.

Since the school’s lunch had been awful, Sanji was bringing her own from now on—plus one for Ace and another for Zoro. She didn’t mind since cooking was something she loved doing and wanted to get better at. One day, Sanji hoped she could open her own restaurant in a town called Raftel. However, that was _far_ into the future if it ever ended up happening in the first place. For now, she was still learning in Zeff’s own restaurant.

It was as she was finishing the lunches that her phone went off with an incoming text message. Sanji felt herself get excited and quickly checked who it was from and found herself to be a little disappointed when it was from Nami telling her not to wear her glasses today.

She knew Nami was only looking out for her and Sanji appreciated that, **‘Okay, I won’t.’**

After she sent it, Sanji got another text, this time from Zoro that said, **‘Good morning, beautiful :)’**

As soon as she opened and read the message, she reread it once, twice, fifteen times before reality sunk in: Zoro was _flirting_ with her.

A high-pitched squeal escaped her lips, Sanji’s face felt like it was on fire she was blushing so hard. She had to pour herself a glass of water and slowly drink it before typing out a reply, **‘Just finished making lunch, hope you like onigiri’**

Once she hit send, Sanji set her phone down and packed the lunches into her bag. She never had people try her food outside of the staff at the restaurant, so Sanji couldn’t help but be nervous they wouldn’t like what she made.

The message she got back made those feelings disappear, **‘Onigiri is literally my favorite food’**

**‘Seriously?’**

**‘Seriously.’**

**‘Will you be ready to leave in five minutes?’**

**‘Sure’**

Sanji quickly went to the bathroom and brushed her teeth before grabbing her bag and heading out the door. By the time she got to the elevator, Zoro was standing there waiting for her, looking like he could use another five hours of sleep.

“You sure you’re awake?” She playfully asked once she pressed the button for the elevator.

Zoro hummed and rubbed at his eyes, “Eh, I’ll just sleep in class.”

She rolled her eyes, “That’s such a dick move.”

“Whadda ya mean?” They both got into the elevator and Zoro pressed the button for the ground floor.

Sanji groaned in annoyance, “All your teachers probably hate you because you always sleep in class.”

He just shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t care.”

“Oh, you’re one of _those guys,”_ Sanji depressingly pointed out.

Almost immediately, Zoro perked up and asked, “Huh?”

“You know,” she pondered for a moment, “You don’t give a shit about anything.”

“That’s not entirely true,” the elevator doors opened and they both stepped out.

Sanji glanced up at Zoro, “Oh? Name three,” she stopped walking and crossed her arms over her chest.

Zoro gave her an irritated look as he answered, “My nakama, kendo, and you.”

She narrowed her gaze and pursed her lips. Sanji had no idea what to say to that, but she wanted to have the last word, “Fine.” He stood there like _she_ was the one who said something crazy, so Sanji began to walk towards the door, “Are you coming?”

As he followed her outside, they were met by Nami, “Hey Sanji! You look really great!”

“Oh! Thanks,” she shyly said.

“What were you two talking about in there?” Nami innocently asked.

Before Sanji could answer her question, Zoro piped in, “None of your business, witch.”

Nami dramatically gasped, but didn’t look surprised by Zoro’s hostile behavior, “Come on, I was just curious~”

Sanji looked between the two, not wanting to pick a side and deciding to stay out of it asked, “Should we get going?”

Zoro began walking in some random direction.

“That’s the wrong way!” Both her and Nami shouted in unison.

~oOo~

By the time they reached the high school, Zoro had wandered off in the wrong direction five times. Nami had suspected as much, but Sanji was still having a hard time understanding, “How don’t you know where you’re going? I’ve only lived here for a couple weeks and I even know my way around.”

What Nami found the most surprising was that Zoro didn’t blow up at her for questioning his sense of direction and instead _blushed._

“Zoro, are you _blushing?”_ Nami teased him as they walked into the school.

He glared at her, “No, I’m just warm.”

Beside her, Sanji looked rather amused by the situation and giggled, “Maybe if you didn’t walk around twice as much because you don’t know where you’re going, you wouldn’t’ve gotten so warm.”

“Uh… I have to get to class.” If Zoro hadn’t been blushing before, he certainly was now, and Nami had Sanji to thank for that.

She called to him, “Wrong way!”

Zoro spun around and started walking the right way, his face having turned a deep shade of pink at this point. Once he was around the corner, both her and Sanji burst out laughing.

Nami realized she might’ve met someone who could put a dent in Zoro’s hard exterior. And despite Sanji’s teasing, it was easy to see they got along—which said a lot because Zoro didn’t get along with people and Sanji had been bullied at her old school. She had a good feeling about it all, that Sanji would fit in with their nakama just fine and that made her feel glad she talked to her in the first place.

The two girls walked to their first class together and sat down in their seats before Nami asked the question that was consuming her thoughts, “So~ what happened between you and Zoro after you left my place last night?”

Sanji became a bumbling mess, “Wha—I don’t—nothing!”

“Oh, come on~” Nami was going to get the information she wanted one way or another, “Just tell me.”

She looked nervous as she fidgeted in her seat, “We just exchanged numbers and talked for a little bit.”

Nami had a suspicion that wasn’t the whole story, “There is no way that’s all that happened, and you know it!”

Her visible blue eye rolled dramatically before Sanji sighed in defeat, “Fine, I’ll tell you, just don’t tell Zoro, okay?”

“Sure—I won’t tell him,” she promised.

Immediately, Sanji perked up, seeming excited to get this off her chest, “So, while we were walking home I asked him if he has a crush on me, but he said he didn’t know since he’s never had one before.”

Nami’s eyes nearly popped out of her head, she literally couldn’t believe what she was hearing, “You actually asked him that?!”

She nodded her head, but seemed nervous, “Yeah, is that bad?”

“Uh, I don’t know,” she admitted, “I’m just surprised you actually asked.”

Sanji shrugged, “I couldn’t stop thinking about it—I _had_ to ask!”

Nami thought for a moment then brought up, “You said you two exchanged phone numbers, right? So~ does that mean you two were texting?”

“I can already guess where this is going,” Sanji pulled her phone from her bag and handed it over for her to read their conversation.

She read through the whole conversation before she made any comments, but once she was done, she had a whole lot to say on the matter. The two were obviously flirting with each other—did they not realize that? Sanji bringing him a lunch because stupid Zoro got jealous of Ace—lunch was going to be very interesting today. The real cherry on top of the ice cream though, was Zoro’s, **‘Good morning, beautiful :)’** text. Nami almost squealed in shock when she read it, mostly because it was completely out of his character.

When she handed Sanji’s phone back, Nami grabbed her shoulders and looked her square in the eye, “I’m telling you—Zoro has a crush on you, Sanji. Now, I know what I said yesterday about not getting your hopes up about him but forget that!”

Sanji looked startled as she tried to explain, “Nami, I told you I don’t like him like that—”

“You will,” she declared.

That stunning blue eye was glaring at her, “Quit insisting on this—it only makes me want to do the opposite.”

“What? Why?” Nami didn’t understand why Sanji wouldn’t want to date Zoro, unless… “Are you a lesbian?”

Her friend’s face went from irritated to disgusted and shouted in a whisper, “No, I’m not a lesbian, Nami—I like men, I just barely even know Zoro.” Sanji glanced around the room to see if anyone was paying attention to them before adding, “I haven’t met that many people here, there could be someone better than Zoro.”

Nami frowned at that, “Seriously?”

Sanji shrugged her shoulders, “I don’t know—I’ve never had friends my own age before—I certainly haven’t had a boyfriend.”

With an exaggerated sigh, Nami shook her head, “You don’t get it Sanji—Zoro is probably one of the only guys worth dating in this school and the others are Ace or Sabo. Everyone in this place is lame in comparison.”

“Lame?” Sanji glanced around the room and Nami could see her hope falling with each passing moment, “Yeah, you’re right.”

“I know. Now, you listen to me and you listen good.” Nami tried to look as serious as possible as she boldly predicted, “You and Zoro are going to date each other at some point, Sanji. It could be next week, next month, or maybe in ten years—but you two will fall for each other.”

Once again, she was met with an eye roll, “Like I said earlier, you pressuring me into this makes me want to resist it even more.”

Her phrasing caught her attention, “Even more? Does that mean you are already trying to resist it?” Nami gleefully clapped her hands when she caught Sanji blushing, “You are!”

“Oh my god, shut up! I am not dealing with this right now—class is about to start.”

Nami giggled to herself as she watched Sanji turn to the front of the room and wait for class to start. Although she didn’t get to learn what they were talking about before she met them this morning, Nami was looking forward to seeing her prediction come true. This was certainly turning out to be an interesting school year if this is only the second day, but she had a feeling it had nothing to do with the time and everything to do with Sanji—there was something special about her.

~oOo~

After wandering the hallways of the school for far too long, Zoro found his first class just in time for the bell. It was extremely frustrating how everything was always moving on him.

He took his seat in the back row and leaned back in his chair, so he could get some sleep.

Only sleep wouldn’t come. The only things on his mind were Sanji’s delicate features, but not nearly as good as the real thing.

Zoro sat up in his chair then pulled his sketchbook and a pencil from his bag. It was something he picked up after Kuina died; it was a way for him to see more pictures of her smiling happily and growing older. Of course, it was just a drawing, but it brought him some much-needed peace. He had gotten used to drawing things from memory, but this would be the first time he’d draw someone other than Kuina.

When he first started, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to do it, but as soon as he got the first basic form down, he knew it was going to turn out well. By the time his first class was over, Zoro was almost halfway done with the drawing. He decided he was going to use a blue colored pencil for her eye and needed to get into the art room somehow.

Not being sure where the art room even was, Zoro was grateful Usopp was in high school now and decided to send him a text, **‘I need a sky-blue colored pencil from the art room.’**

Thankfully, he replied right away, **‘I have art for my next class, I can bring you one at lunch.’**

**‘Thanks man, I appreciate it’**

He could still work on his drawing, but he’d have to wait until after lunch to do the eye. It was not a big deal, Zoro would just have to be patient—something he’d gotten better at thanks to drawing.

Instead of sleeping through his second and third classes, he continued working on his drawing of Sanji. By the time lunch arrived, Zoro only had the eye left to do.

After packing up his bag he headed towards the cafeteria, it was always easy to find because most people were heading in that direction and he just needed to follow the crowd or the smell of food.

On his way there, he ran into Sabo and Ace, “Hey, Zoro!”

“Hey guys,” he smiled at them.

“You okay? You look more tired than usual,” Sabo pointed out.

He shrugged, “I’m fine, just didn’t sleep during class.”

Both brothers looked shocked by this and Ace asked, “You _sure_ you’re alright?”

Zoro rolled his eyes, “Yes, quit asking me that.”

~oOo~

Sabo sat beside Ace at their usual lunch table and began to guard his food from him as he ate. Robin was already there, reading a book as she picked at her food, probably waiting for Ace to ask for it.

Zoro was sitting beside Robin, but he didn’t get a lunch today. Sabo wondered what that was all about but decided not to ask. Apparently, Ace had something else in mind, “Zoro, if you aren’t going to eat, at least get some food for me.”

That’s when Nami and Sanji showed up, the latter with three lunch boxes in hand. Sanji handed one to Zoro and took the empty seat next to him, “Here’s your lunch,” then turned to Ace, “Here, Ace—hope you like onigiri.”

“Oh my god! Sanji, I love you!” Ace grabbed the lunch box and eagerly opened it to start devouring its contents.

He couldn’t help but notice how uncomfortable both Sanji and Zoro got after Ace’s, ‘I love you,’ comment. Sabo didn’t remember Zoro asking for a lunch from Sanji the day before, so they must’ve talked about it with each other. He wondered if there was something more going on between them.

Usopp came to their table and handed Zoro what appeared to be a blue colored pencil, “Here—you would not believe how difficult it was to get this.”

Before he could get started on some crazy story that was probably exaggerated, Sanji asked, “What’s that for?”

Zoro began to blush— _really_ blush—grabbed the pencil from Usopp and shoved it into his bag, “Just a drawing I’ve been working on.”

It wasn’t news to any of them that Zoro frequently drew pictures of Kuina, he’d been doing if for a few years now. However, Sanji was completely blown away, “You draw? Can I see?”

Sabo had never seen Zoro look so panicked, “No—it’s not done.”

Sanji rolled her eye and asked, “Can I see it when it’s done?”

“Umm, I don’t know…” Zoro seemed really hesitant to let Sanji see his drawing, which was understandable in Sabo’s opinion. She probably didn’t know about Kuina and who knows how she’d react to finding out he had a sister who died?

Nami didn’t seem to agree as she chimed in, “What’s the big deal? Your drawings of Kuina are really good.”

Zoro awkwardly told them all, “Uh, I didn’t draw Kuina.” Then he began stuffing his face with an onigiri Sanji made and genuinely seemed to be enjoying it.

They all sat there, unsure of what to say until Robin asked, “Who _did_ you draw, Zoro?”

Since his mouth was full of rice, Zoro couldn’t actually talk. That’s when Usopp said, “He wanted a sky-blue colored pencil.”

Sabo immediately recognized the look on Nami’s face—it was the face she made when she had a plan. “Zoro, you wouldn’t happen to be drawing a picture of Sanji, would you?”

They all turned to Zoro in anticipation, only to witness him choking on some rice.

Robin, always having a morbid sense of humor, giggled, “Looks like we got our answer.”

When he glanced over at Sanji to see her reaction, he realized she was incredibly uncomfortable. She was completely avoiding Zoro, but her eye was wide open, staring at her lap, “Why are you drawing _me?”_

Once again, they looked at Zoro, Sabo half-expected him not to answer, but he didn’t expect him to say, “Because you’re beautiful.”

Everyone was quiet for a few moments, it was unusual to have a moment of silence between them. Ace ended up being the one to break it with an irritated, “Damn it, Zoro!”

Sabo turned to his brother in shock, “What’s your problem, Ace?”

Ace furrowed his brows, “I said I love her and now he’s getting in the way!”

He dug his heel into the top of Ace’s foot, “Ace!”

“Hey,” Zoro actually stood from the table and leaned towards Ace, “It’s not the first time I’ve told her that.”

Ace stood up and crossed his arms, “What’re you saying?”

“If we’re going off who was first, it was me.”

“Well, she was going to bring me lunch first,” Ace childishly quipped back.

Nami interrupted their little…whatever this was, “Wait? You _both_ have a crush on Sanji?”

“Ughhh!” Sanji let her head fall to the table as she groaned, “Why is this happening to me?”

Zoro seemed to actually care that Sanji was getting embarrassed by him and Ace, whereas Ace was more oblivious, “Sanji, I think you are the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen, and I loved your food! Thank you for bringing me lunch!”

Sanji perked up at the mention of the food she’d made, “Did you really like it?”

Ace gave her his most dazzling smile, “Yeah! It was delicious, would you bring me a lunch tomorrow, too?”

She gave him a bright smile, “Yeah, sure!”

Zoro and Ace sat back down, the former with a pout on his face. Sabo had a bad feeling about this—it couldn’t end well with both Ace and Zoro being interested in Sanji—one or both of them were going to have their hearts broken if they kept this up. He personally didn’t understand why they were so smitten with her, Sanji was really nice and everything, but they barely knew her, and Sabo simply didn’t understand how they could get a crush on someone that quickly.

~oOo~

The rest of Sanji’s day came and went, she could barely concentrate on anything going on around her and frequently was asked, “Are you paying attention, Sanji?” By Nami, like right now.

“Uhhh…” Sanji felt bad, but she was too distracted by what happened at lunch. She already knew Zoro had some sort of feelings for her, but then Ace said he _loves_ her. Sanji really tried to stop thinking about it so much, but that only caused her to think about it even more and that’s how she got in this mess.

Nami scoffed, “What’s up with you? You’ve been acting weird since lunch…” she was able to put two and two together, having witnessed the spectacle at lunch as well. “Is this about Ace and Zoro?”

Sanji groaned, “Yes! I can’t stop thinking about it!”

“Well, like I said before, there aren’t very many worthwhile guys in this school.” Nami shrugged her shoulders, “Looks like you get your pick on two of the best.”

Sighing dramatically, Sanji rubbed at her temple, “This is so frustrating—I don’t even understand why either of them like me!”

That’s when Nami groaned, “Oh my god, stop it—you are awesome—there’s nothing _not_ to like.”

She frowned, “Still, they barely know me…”

“So, let them get to know you better!” Nami gave her an encouraging smile, “I swear, if either of them _were_ losers—I’d tell you in a heartbeat—but they’re not. Both Ace and Zoro are really good friends of mine, have been for years.”

“Then why don’t _you_ date one?” Sanji rolled her eyes in slight irritation.

Suddenly Nami stopped walking and pulled on Sanji’s arm to get her attention. With a serious look in her brown eyes, Nami confessed, “Because _I’m_ a lesbian.”

Sanji blinked back at her a few times, then smiled, “Oh, okay!”

Nami looked a little surprised, “You’re not mad?”

“Why would I be mad?” Sanji chuckled nervously, “Women are much better than men, I’m just not attracted to them.”

That earned her a bright smile and a tight hug from Nami, “I’m so happy! I was a little worried to tell you…”

“Nami, you’re the first real friend I’ve ever had—that won’t change just because you like girls.”

“See, you’re amazing, Sanji. If you were into girls, I’d want to date you.”

Sanji laughed at that, “Not you, too~”

It was while they were giggling together that they ran into the two guys they were just talking about. Nami noticed them first and warned her, “Uh-oh, look who it is.”

Before Sanji had time to prepare herself, she was bombarded by Ace asking, “Can I walk you home, Sanji?”

“Uhh, why? Do you live by us?”

Ace fidgeted and mumbled, “No…”

Zoro rolled his eyes, “Ace lives on the other side of town.”

“Like you would even know!” Ace spat back.

Sanji actually laughed at that, because she knew Zoro wouldn’t be able to find their own apartment, let alone wherever Ace lived.

Ace chuckled, “So, whadda ya say?”

She glanced over to Nami, who seemed to be encouraging her to take him up on his offer, “Yeah, sure. Why not?”

As soon as she agreed, Sanji noticed Zoro began wandering off. She was about to go after him, when Nami said, “I’ll get him, you walk with Ace.”

Sanji nodded her head, then joined the freckled boy who asked, “Can I carry your bag?”

“You actually want to?” She asked, surprised by his offer.

Instead of answering her question, Ace just took her bag from her and slung it over his shoulder with his own, “How was your second day at the new school?”

She gave his question some thought before answering, “It was good, I suppose…”

“Hey,” he waited to continue until she turned her attention to him, “I’m sorry about what happened at lunch. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, I just think you’re really pretty and I loved your food.”

Sanji felt herself blush and pretended to fix her hair as she stuttered out, “Uh—I—It’s okay.”

Beside her, Ace laughed, and it was honestly a really nice sound, “You aren’t used to this sort of thing, are you?”

A strange noise escaped her throat and she blushed further as she shook her head.

He smiled at her, like _really_ smiled, “I hope you will.”

The rest of their walk was spent talking about random little things, like what they did at school and their favorite subjects and teachers so far. Sanji realized that Nami had been right, Ace was a really cool guy and she had to admit he was very likable. She still couldn’t stop wondering if Zoro would be upset with her, though.

“It was nice getting to talk with you, Sanji,” he handed her bag back to her once they got to her apartment building.

Sanji smiled at him, “Yeah, it was.”

Ace shot her his huge grin in response, “Well, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yes, you will.”

~oOo~

Zoro and Nami had followed closely behind Ace and Sanji as they walked together, but not close enough to hear their conversation. He had been hoping she would tell Ace that she wouldn’t walk with him, but Zoro couldn’t really be mad about it. Sanji was just his neighbor, Zoro wasn’t really sure if they could even be called friends. Still, it bothered him—seeing her with Ace, talking to him and smiling at him. Ace was his nakama, but that didn’t mean he wanted Sanji to be with him.

No, he would much rather Sanji be with himself.

“If I leave with Ace, will you be able to find your way home?” Nami teased.

He rolled his eyes, “It’s literally right there.”

Nami gave him a cheeky smile, “Great! I’ll see you tomorrow!”

After Ace walked away with Nami, Zoro went inside the building with Sanji, who kept glancing over at him as they walked to the elevator.

They both went to press the button at the same time and their hands touched, causing them both to abruptly pull away. Zoro glanced over at her and cleared his throat, “You can press it.”

Sanji nodded her head and pressed the ‘up’ arrow.

It took a few moments for the doors to open, and when they did, Zoro gestured for Sanji to go first.

“Thanks,” she stepped inside and pressed the button for their floor.

After the doors closed and they were alone in the elevator together, Zoro suddenly felt waves of tension between them. The space was too small, and they were so close to each other. He took a deep breath to try and clam down, only to get a whiff of Sanji’s scent: it was sweet and fruity.

Zoro shifted on his feet, hoping to distract himself long enough for them to get to their floor.

“Are you okay? Do you have to go to the bathroom or something?”

He turned to Sanji and was met with her bright, blue eye staring back at him. Zoro licked his lips and shook his head, “I’m fine.”

Thankfully, the doors opened to their floor and he was able to get out of there, only to hear Sanji call after him, “Zoro, wait!”

How was he supposed to ignore her—he couldn’t. Zoro stopped and turned around to face her, “What is it?”

In her eye, it looked as if she was hurt as she asked, “Are you mad at me?”

“What? No—why would I be mad?”

Sanji fidgeted with the strap of her bag, “Because I let Ace walk with me…”

That made him frown, “I can’t be mad at you for something like that, I have no right to be.”

The blue in her eye seemed to brighten further, “Oh, well, never mind then.”

He was reminded of his drawing, he had finished it earlier in the day and actually started another one. Feeling like he didn’t want to say goodbye just yet, Zoro asked, “Would you want to come in?”

She looked surprised by his invitation, he was a little surprised himself. Sanji ran her fingers through her blonde hair and twirled the ends around her fingers, “You sure it’s okay?”

Zoro nodded his head, “Yeah, no one is home right now, but Koshiro will be back in a couple hours, he’d probably be thrilled to have company.”

Sanji seemed to ponder what he’d said for a moment before shrugging her shoulders, “Sure, why not?”

His face broke out into a huge most-likely dopey grin, but Zoro could care about how he might look right now, he was far too happy. “Great, come on,” he turned towards the door to unlock it and let them both inside.

~oOo~

Zoro’s apartment had the same layout as her own. The place had very little decorations, was simple and clean. There was a school photo of Zoro hanging up as well as a family photo that included a black-haired girl, a middle-aged man, and a much younger Zoro. Sanji noticed there was a white katana above a few pictures of the girl around her age, “Who’s that?”

“Kuina,” he answered solemnly.

She recognized the name from lunch and asked, “What happened to her?”

With a long, heavy sigh, Zoro explained, “She fell down a flight of stairs and broke her neck.”

“I’m sorry,” Sanji knew all too well the grief of losing someone close.

His mouth twitched slightly, “Yeah.”

Sanji felt like she had to tell him, “I lost my mother when I was young.”

He frowned, “That must’ve been hard.”

She shook her head, starting to feel the familiar sting of tears in her eyes as she scoffed, “It still is hard—Zeff isn’t even my father, my real dad didn’t want me…”

Zoro gently held her hand in his and gazed at her dreamily, “He’s missing out.”

No one ever told her that before. “You think so?” She asked nervously.

“For sure,” his smile was softer than Ace’s, it was nice to see Zoro smile.

Sanji’s heart was pounding in her chest like a battering ram. She didn’t understand why she was feeling like this, “Could I use your bathroom?”

He blinked at her a few times before stuttering, “Y-yeah, sure.”

She gave him a tight smile and booked it to the bathroom to calm down.

After turning on the faucet, Sanji splashed water on her face. She dried off her face with a fresh towel she found in the cupboard, not trusting two men to frequently wash their towels. Sanji fixed her hair and took a few deep breaths, “You are fine, everything is okay, nothing bad is going to happen, you are safe with Zoro.”

Once she left the bathroom, Sanji found Zoro standing in the kitchen, looking like he couldn’t decide what to do with himself.

Sanji cleared her throat, “So… Are you hungry?”

Zoro shook his head, “No, I—I didn’t know what to do.”

She raised her eyebrow, “I was gone for like two minutes.”

He just shrugged.

Sanji laughed, “Okay, well~ what do you want to do?”

His Adam’s apple bobbed along his throat before her answered, “Do you want to see my drawing?”

Her face broke into a huge grin, “I’d love to!”

Zoro grabbed his backpack and took out what looked like a sketchbook, “Want to sit out here or go to my room?”

Sanji had to admit it was nice Zoro gave her the option to stay out here, but she also wanted to see his room. “We can go to your room,” she answered before following him there, which she thought must be the wrong one because it had exercise equipment in it. But Zoro acted like it was normal and took a seat on the small bed in the corner of the room.

She realized there was nothing significant about his room other than the bench press, weight machine, and a dangerous amount of weights for the fifth floor of a building. All she knew for sure was she didn’t want to live in the apartment below him in case the floor caved-in. Sanji took a seat beside him on his bed and was handed his sketchbook.

It wasn’t what she had expected to happen, but she found herself eager to see what was inside. Sanji opened it to the first page and was met with a drawing of Kuina. It looked incredible, just like she did in the pictures below the sword. As she flipped through the sketchbook, Sanji quickly realized it was filled with drawings of Kuina, page after page. Some of them where she is young, but most of them she looked older, as if Zoro tried to draw her as she aged—something she’d never be able to do.

“Zoro, these are incredible,” she couldn’t believe how much detail they had, the wrinkles and laugh-lines, the hairline, all of it.

When she glanced up at him, she noticed he was watching her with a smile, “Thanks.”

Sanji continued to flip through the sketchbook, and immediately stopped when she came to one with a blue eye. She stared at it for a substantial amount of time, but she still said nothing. There were absolutely no words that could describe how that drawing made her feel. It was something she never experienced before, made her feel light and happy.

“Do you like it?” He asked when she kept staring.

She nodded her head and swallowed the lump in her throat, “I love it. I look _really_ …” Sanji couldn’t think of the right word to describe the drawing.

“Beautiful.”

Her breath hitched as she turned and made eye contact with him. She felt her cheeks heating up and nibbled on her lower lip as she nodded her head.

Zoro smiled at her again and it made her feel a little light-headed. There was a tiny part of her that was beginning to give-in to the feeling of being on cloud nine. It was irresistible, a blissful high that made her feel invincible, but it didn’t make sense.

“I should go,” she closed his sketchbook and handed it back.

When she met his gray eyes, she saw bewilderment and disappointment, “What? Why?”

She shrugged, “I think us being alone together is dangerous.”

“Dangerous? How?”

Poor Zoro looked so confused, Sanji needed to at least give him a straight answer. “Look,” she took a deep breath, “I just think we should take things slow. I’m not saying that I like you or anything—just that I don’t want to rush into anything—with anyone.”

He blinked at her, “So, it’s the same with Ace?”

“I guess,” she sighed, then perked up, “Although, I don’t have _his_ number.”

He smirked at that, “Good.”

Sanji rolled her eyes, “So, will it be _bad_ if I ever _do_ get his number?”

Zoro narrowed his gaze, “I didn’t like seeing you with Ace.”

“You have no right to be mad at me for trying to make a friend.”

“He doesn’t want to just be friends, Sanji,” he warned.

“Oh? And _you_ do?” She shot back.

He snapped his mouth shut and grunted instead of speaking.

She scoffed, “You can’t even think of words to say to me?”

“What’s the point? You won’t listen, you’re too stubborn.”

Sanji couldn’t believe his nerve. She glared at him and spat back, “I won’t take that from someone who won’t admit he gets lost.”

Zoro threw his hands in the air, “This is what I mean!”

She rolled her eyes, yet again and groaned into her hands as she covered her face. Why did Zoro have to be so damn frustrating?

They both sat there for a few moments before Zoro turned to face her, “I’m sorry, I’m not good at this.”

She sighed loudly, “What are you talking about?”

He shrugged, “I don’t know—relationships with people?”

“You think I am?” She asked accusingly.

“Fuck, Sanji! Give me a break, I’m trying here!” Zoro seemed frustrated out of his mind.

Sanji shook her head, “Look Zoro, I have no idea what’s going on in your head, but you’ve got to relax.” He took a few deep breaths and seemed a little better, “Just tell me what you want from me.”

~oOo~

Zoro wasn’t sure what to tell her, because what he wanted wasn’t something she could just give to him. He couldn’t ask for her to feel the same way about him, they barely knew each other after all. His feelings were new and unexpected, something he never experienced before. If he was asked about girls or dating three days ago, he would’ve cared less. Now, he found himself wanting to spend time and be with someone in a more…intimate fashion.

Inviting Sanji into his bedroom was probably a bad idea because of the images it procured, however Zoro had enough self-control he knew nothing would actually happen unless Sanji initiated it, which unfortunately wasn’t going to happen. He wondered if there was a way he could get her to spend more time with him and decided to ask, “Will you let me draw you after school?”

At first, Sanji looked taken aback, then her face changed to one that was skeptical, “Nothing nude.”

He nearly choked on his own spit. Why would she think he wanted to draw her in the nude? Well…now that he thinks about it, it doesn’t sound that bad…

Sanji kicked him in the shin, “Quit thinking about what I look like naked!”

“Oww,” he rubbed at his leg and Zoro felt his cheeks heat up, he _had_ been thinking about that. He shook his head and cleared his throat, “Nothing nude—I promise.”

She considered it for a moment, then smiled, “Sure, you can draw me—although you seem to be doing fine without me.”

Her words had a double meaning for Zoro, pertaining to both the drawing and his life. Sure, he was fine without Sanji, but _with_ Sanji he would be amazing. To him it didn’t matter that they barely knew each other, he knew there was something special about Sanji—why else would he feel this way about her?

His smile was so huge, it hurt his lips. Zoro grabbed his sketchbook and a pencil from his nightstand. “Just get comfortable, then I’ll start,” he got in a good position on the bed himself and waited until Sanji was situated.

Although he had never drawn someone live before, Zoro found it to be rather easy. He had enough practice after all these years that he knew what he was doing. It was exciting to draw someone new, Zoro had never wanted to draw someone besides Kuina before today. Now that he had drawn Sanji, he could tell he was going to become addicted to this: creating something as beautiful as his model.

One benefit of having Sanji sit here and model for him was he had a great excuse to stare at her and study all her features. Ace might’ve walked her home, but Zoro got to draw her, which was much more intimate of an activity in Zoro’s opinion.

“How long have you been drawing?” Sanji suddenly asked.

“Like right now, or in general?” He asked as he continued drawing her pointed, upturned nose.

Sanji rolled her eye, “In general.”

He smirked at her annoyed behavior, but the reason he started drawing was much more depressing. “I started after Kuina died, and that was when I was ten.”

“How old are you now?”

“Fifteen.”

“When’s your birthday?”

“November eleventh, yours?”

“March second.”

“So, you’re fourteen?”

Sanji nodded her head, “Yeah.”

He smiled at her over his sketchbook and caught her blushing, he tried to mimic the color on her cheeks in his drawing, but unfortunately, he didn’t have any colors besides the sky-blue pencil Usopp gave him. Zoro didn’t have a job and Koshiro didn’t make much money, so Zoro never wanted to ask for any and stuck with a number two pencil.

She shifted slightly and began to fidget with her hands, Zoro scolded her, “Quit moving around so much.”

“I can’t help it! I’m not used to sitting still.”

“What do you do in class all day?”

“Ugh! You know what I mean—I’ve been sitting still all day!”

He set down his sketchbook and sighed “Do you want to take a break?”

Sanji smiled at him, and that was enough to make it worth it, “Yes. Can I see what you have so far?”

Zoro handed her the sketchbook and watched as her face lit up upon seeing the drawing.

“Nevermind, I don’t need a break, you can finish.”

She handed the sketchbook back to him and went back to her position. Zoro got straight back to work.

~oOo~

As Sanji sat on Zoro’s bed, she watched him draw her into his sketchbook. It was very unexpected for him to be so talented—he didn’t really seem like the type. The weights in his room could be expected due to his larger, athletic build, but the fact he was artsy beneath it all was a lot to handle.

All the while Zoro drew her, Sanji couldn’t get her heart rate to go down. She ended up with sweaty palms and one of her legs fell asleep from the way she was sitting. It was frustrating, trying not to move, but also wanting to do nothing _but_ move. Sanji kept still, not wanting to get chastised again by Zoro.

Once he was finished he handed over his sketchbook again, causing her to smile, “It looks amazing, Zoro.”

“I just drew what I saw.”

She turned away from the drawing to face him, “You have real talent, though.”

He shrugged it off, “Just takes practice.”

“So, you haven’t always been this good?”

Zoro shook his head and scoffed, “Nooo not at all—I filled up a few sketchbooks that were so bad I just threw them away once I was finished.”

“Really? You didn’t want to keep them just to see how much you improved?”

“No, they were _bad.”_

Sanji laughed at that, “Okay, I believe you.”

Zoro took back his sketchbook and turned back a page to an unfinished drawing of her, “Mind if I finish this?”

She gulped then shook her head, “No, I don’t mind.”

His smile was gentle and sweet, it made her cheeks heat up instantly. Zoro got back to work, occasionally glancing up at her over the sketchbook. It usually made her uncomfortable to be watched so intensely by anyone, but with Zoro it just gave her goosebumps.

By the time he finished, it was nearing five o’clock and Sanji was getting hungry. Before she lost her nerve, Sanji asked, “Would you want me to cook us something to eat?”

He seemed surprised by her offer, but accepted, “Yeah, Koshiro should be getting home soon, too.”

Sanji grinned, “Awesome, we can all eat together!” She was so excited to get started, she hopped off the bed and ran into the kitchen.

Since Zeff owned a restaurant, he was rarely home for meals and that left Sanji eating alone most of the time. She couldn’t always be at the restaurant like Zeff was, she still was in school was always his excuse. One day, she would have her own restaurant and serve amazing food that she’ll create all on her own.

When Zoro joined her in the kitchen, she had already been rummaging through the cupboards to see what was on hand. “Sorry, we don’t really have a whole lot,” he apologized.

She shook her head, “It’s no problem, I think I’ll make some more onigiri since you have rice and some things I can put in their centers.”

Zoro grinned, “My favorite food twice in one day? This must be what heaven’s like.”

Sanji rolled her eyes, but smiled nonetheless, “Ha ha, very funny, it just happens to be easy and one of the things I can make with what you’ve got.”

“Sure~” he teased. Sanji would like to kick him and give him a piece of her mind, but the front door opened and in walked Koshiro, who she recognized from the family photo.

Upon entering the apartment and seeing the two of them in the kitchen, Koshiro smiled and asked, “Who’s this?”

Zoro answered for her, “Sanji, she was going to make us dinner.”

“Really? That’s wonderful, it’s so nice to have company,” Koshiro’s smile was gentle, just like Zoro’s, and made her feel welcome.

Sanji smiled back, “I was going to make onigiri.”

Koshiro exchanged a glance with Zoro and commented, “That’s his favorite.”

“Yes, apparently,” Sanji chuckled and began to cook them dinner.

It was endearing to see how much Koshiro obviously cared for Zoro. The two exchanged very little in verbal conversation, and instead seemed to communicate with different facial expressions and random grunts. She had never seen anything like it.

Her and Zeff were rarely silent around one another, usually one of them starting an argument with the other. Sanji couldn’t help it that he was a frustrating jackass who didn’t care about her feelings. She was just grateful he put up with her this long.

Sanji wondered if Kuina had been like this, or if she had been more talkative. Maybe she’d be able to ask Zoro about it one day, just not right now.

When she brought the food to the table both Zoro and Koshiro’s faces lit up. “I’ve never seen rice balls look so good!” Koshiro smiled so wide his eyes closed.

She returned the smile, “Thanks, I hope they taste good, too.”

Zoro was already digging in and seemed to be enjoying himself.

“So, Sanji,” Koshiro started, “Are you new around here?”

“Yeah, I moved into the building with my old man a couple weeks ago.”

Koshiro looked pleased, “Oh, you must be the new people on the floor.”

Sanji nodded her head, “That’s us.”

“What does your father do?”

“Zeff’s not my father—he opened the new restaurant in town, _The Baratie.”_

Without missing a beat, he said, “Oh, I’ve heard good things so far.”

That made Sanji smile, “That’s good to hear.”

“So, how has the new school been?” Koshiro asked politely.

She frowned, “A lot better than my last one.”

Before he could ask why, Zoro chimed in, “People bullied her.”

The middle-aged man looked rather surprised, but he didn’t make a comment about it, just nodded in understanding. “Well, you’re always welcome for dinner, Sanji. This has been delicious,” Koshiro’s smile was once again wide enough his eyes closed.

It made Sanji incredibly happy, “Thanks, I usually eat alone since Zeff’s at the restaurant, so this has been nice.”

“Well, in that case, come back tomorrow,” he offered.

“Seriously?”

“Of course!” Koshiro smiled gently, “No need for you to eat alone when you could eat with us.”

She glanced at Zoro, who just shrugged as if to say it made sense. Sanji nodded, “Okay, I will.”

Koshiro stood from the table as they finished, “I’ll clean up, thank you for cooking, Sanji.”

“It was my pleasure,” she grinned back.

Zoro stood up and began to help clear the table, when Sanji tried to help, he stopped her and said, “You cooked,” as if that was all the explanation necessary.

~oOo~

When Zoro brought the dishes to Koshiro in the kitchen, he was told, “I like her.”

He met his adoptive father’s loving gaze and smiled, “Me too.”

Koshiro gave him a knowing look, “You can always talk to me if you need anything, Zoro.”

Zoro wasn’t sure what he was implying, if anything, but nodded his head in acknowledgement.

“You can be in your room, just keep the door open.”

His cheeks became warm, what exactly did Koshiro think was going on between him and Sanji?

Well, at this point Zoro would be lying if he said he wasn’t interested in dating Sanji, but that didn’t mean anything because Sanji clearly didn’t want that. If he was being honest, Zoro wished he could reach out and touch her cheek, just to see if it was as soft as it looks. He wanted to feel her lips against his own, wanted to know if they were as plump as they look.

He walked away from Koshiro shaking his head to clear his mind, if he kept imagining these things about Sanji he’d regret it.

Sanji was still sitting at the dinner table, so Zoro told her, “Let’s go to my room, bring your bag.”

She seemed to mutter something under her breath, but Zoro wasn’t paying close enough attention to catch it. Still, she followed him back to his bedroom.

Wanting to distract himself, Zoro took a seat at his bench press and picked up a dumbbell. Sanji sat on his bed with her bag in-hand and took out a book. He started doing reps of twenty, alternating each arm.

After a few minutes, Sanji sighed dramatically.

When Zoro looked up at her, she was staring at him like he was crazy or something. He continued his reps and asked, “What?”

“T-that thing is a hundred pounds!” She shouted at him.

He shrugged, “It’s not my heaviest.”

Sanji shook her head, “That’s not the point! _I_ weight that much.”

“What’re you trying to say?”

She performed the most dramatic eye-roll he’d seen all day, “I don’t know—that you’re really strong?”

“Oh,” Zoro wasn’t sure what to say because in his eyes he was still too weak.

Sanji picked up on that, “You don’t think so.”

Zoro knew she wasn’t asking him a question, but he still answered, “I’m not nearly strong enough to become the greatest.”

“The greatest what?”

“Swordsman.”

“Ah, I should’ve guessed because of your interest in kendo,” Sanji chuckled.

He stayed straight-faced and confessed, “I made a promise to Kuina.”

“So,” Sanji seemed nervous to ask, “That sword out there…?”

“It was hers, but Koshiro gave it to me after she died. It’s a legendary katana, calling it a sword is shameful.”

“Sorry, I can tell it’s a touchy subject, so we can just drop it.”

Zoro felt a little bad, but he was grateful she said they could stop talking about it. He didn’t like thinking about all the time he was wasting in school when all he wanted to do was become the world’s greatest swordsman and then open a dojo in this town called Raftel.

“It has nothing to do with you, honestly,” Zoro didn’t want Sanji feeling guilty or anything.

She met his gaze and smiled ever so slightly, “If you say so.”

He sighed, “I just wish I didn’t have to go to school.”

Sanji laughed, a sound he would never get tired of hearing, “Did you sleep during class again?”

Zoro smirked, “No, I was actually drawing.”

Her cheeks turned bright pink, which contrasted with her pale skin. “Oh,” she said shyly, then asked, “So, have you been assigned any homework yet?”

He shrugged his shoulders, “No idea.”

She looked so disappointed, “You seriously don’t pay attention _at all?”_

“That’s right.”

Sanji scoffed in disgust, “You really need to get your act together, Zoro.”

It was moments like this where Zoro was reminded of Sanji’s inner bitch. “I don’t need you to judge me,” he spat back.

She shouted, “You don’t _need_ me for _anything!”_

He stared back at her, confused by what she said and calmly asked, “What’re you talking about?”

Zoro waited for Sanji to take a deep breath before answering, “Sorry—I just, still am having a hard time learning how I’m supposed to interact with people who are my own age.”

There had to be more to that story, but now wasn’t really the time to ask. Zoro finally stopped his reps and set down his dumbbell before walking over to sit on the bed beside Sanji. “Look,” he began, “People might not _need_ you, but they enjoy having you around.”

Sanji gave him a sheepish look, “I’m just not used to it.”

“You just need some more practice.”

Slowly, Sanji began to nod her head, “Yeah, I suppose you’re right.”

“Hey,” he instinctively reached out and touched her arm, which got her attention. She stared back at him, expecting him to say something, but all Zoro could do was stare at her lips. He swallowed the lump in his throat, “Uh, never mind.”

She seemed like she wanted to ask about it, but didn’t, which Zoro was grateful for; he didn’t really want to tell Sanji how bad he wanted to kiss her. After a few moments, she turned to him and said, “I should probably get going.”

He hadn’t realized his hand was still on her arm, how awkward, but Sanji didn’t make a big deal about it. Zoro stood from his bed and cleared his throat, “I can show you out.”

After gathering her things, Sanji grabbed her bag and they walked back out to the living room.

When Koshiro saw them, he called out, “It was nice meeting you, Sanji! See you again tomorrow?”

Sanji gave him a huge smile, “Yes, I’ll be here.” Then turned to Zoro, “I’ll see you tomorrow, thanks for letting me hang out.”

“Anytime,” he smirked back. Zoro waved Sanji goodbye and shut the door behind her after she was gone.

Koshiro was giving him a curious look and asked, “What were you two fighting about?”

He felt himself become embarrassed, but answered, “Sanji’s not used to having friends.”

The only father figure he’s ever known nodded in understanding, “I hope you can help her get over that.”

Zoro sighed, “I hope so, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! The first chapter was a hit, so I wrote another one! I'm planning on making this a whole separate story from Curly Brow and Marimo. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think of this chapter, I love feedback!
> 
> xoxoLadyLiberal

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! Hope you enjoyed reading this, I wrote this a while ago and finally decided to post it. Still not entirely sure if I'll write more, depends on if you like it. Let me know what you think in a comment.
> 
> xoxoLadyLiberal


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